Texas

Tim Curran, editor of Roll Call, spent some time on a washingtonpost.com chat answering readers' questions about the DeLay indictment earlier this afternoon. Some interesting questions, and answers. Check it out.

Developing... Stay tuned here all day, folks. There's a growing buzz out of Austin since last night about today's wrap up of the grand jury in Travis County surrounding DeLay's TRMPAC. I'll be in New York City most of the day, but Meghan will be following developments. Drop me an email [ddonnelly at campaignmoney dot org] with any thoughts, ideas, interesting tidbuts, etc. -- I'll be getting email, or leave a comment below.

Tom DeLay and the Republicans, shamed by DeLay’s comments that the federal budget was "pared down pretty good," have come forward with “Operation Offset” to propose a number of cuts to help pay for hurricane relief. The New York Times’ Carl Hulse covers it this morning, listing the following items as ones on the chopping block:

Glenn Smith of DriveDemocracy.org hit the Hammer on the head with a post at Blogging of the President. Think about the difference between the federal response to DeLay's request that Texas lawmakers get tracked down in Oklahoma versus the federal response, and DeLay's, to Hurricane Katrina. In Glenn's words:

Read this excerpt from R.G. Ratcliffe's Houston Chronicle article this morning about directions the TRMPAC case could take:

But Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle hinted that he might have indicted DeLay if the congressional leader had fallen under his jurisdiction. Because DeLay lives in Sugar Land, jurisdiction under Texas election law would fall to Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey Jr.

In all the stories, predictions, and hopes regarding the Ronnie Earle investigation into Tom DeLay's conduct in the 2002 Texas state legislative elections, there is one line I was worried about someday reading. From the AP story on yesterday's indictment of TRMPAC:

Embattled Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (TRMPAC) and the Texas Association of Business (TAB) have been indicted on charges of illegally using corporate money to fund Republican legislative campaigns in 2002.

According to the Austin-American Statesman, this morning's indictments include 128 counts against the business group and two against the political action committee.